Press construction



July 17, 1956 ',w. ENST l PRESS vcmsfr'Ruc'rIoN l original Filed sept.15, 1949 FIG-l1 INVENTOR l WALTER ERNST BY, jf/214.4

ATTORNEYS July 17, 1956` v1/,ERNST y 2,755,147 y'PRESS CONSTRUCTION Yoriginal Filed sept. 15, 1949 s sheets-sheet 2 FIG-2 INvE NTOR v WALTE RE R N ST AT TORNEYS July 17, 1956 f w. ERNST 2,755,147

PRESS CONSTRUCTIONv l f original Filled sept. 15, 1949 i s sheets-sheet:s

n S :if I @k l FIG-5 INVENTOR WALTER ERNST N ,-1

ATTORNEYS United States Patent O PRESS CONSTRUCTION Walter Ernst,Dayton, Ohio, assgnor to The Commonwealth Engineering Company of Ohio,Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application December 30, 1950,Serial No. 203,664, now Patent No. 2,730,981, dated January 17, 1956,which is a division of Serial No. 115,901, September 15, 1949, nowPatent No. 2,672,836, dated March 23, 1954. Divided and this applicationAugust 13, 1952, Serlal No. 304,069

2 Claims. (Cl. 308-3) This invention relates to presses, especially tohydraulic presses, and particularly to the platen bearing guidesthereof, and is a division of my co-pending application Serial No.203,664, filed December 30, 1950, now Patent No. 2,730,981, issuedJanuary 17, 1956, and which is, in turn, a division of my co-pendingapplication Serial No. 115,901 filed September 15, 1949, and issuedMarch 23, 1954, as U. S. Patent 2,672,836.

In presses, particularly large presses, such as hydraulic presses,severe loads are imposed on the press platen at times tending to deflectit laterally or to cause it to tilt. For restraining the press platenagainst such deccting or tilting movements guide means are providedslidably guiding the press platen along the uprights or side framemembers of the press. Usually these guide means consist of machined wayson the side frame members or uprights of the press which are engaged bysimple gib elements bolted on the corners of the platen.

Due to the necessity of accurately guiding the press platen, andresisting the deecting and tilting forces enclosed therein during theoperation of the press, considerable wear of the way surfaces will takeplace when they are formed directly on the side frame members oruprights of the press.

Also, these same forces that are exerted on the platen have a tendencyto displace ordinary gib members, and which displacement will cause theplaten to be inaccurately guided.

Having the foregoing in mind, a particular object of this invention isthe provision of improved guiding means for press platens which willaccurately guide the platen throughout its travel during operation ofthe press.

Another object is the provision of a guide means for a press platenwhich can readily be replaced if it becomes worn beyond allowablelimits.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a platenguiding means in which the guide ways and the gib members cooperatingtherewith can be fabricated separately from the press frame and platenwhereby the most advantageous material can be used in their constructionand the highest degree of accuracy in their manufacture maintained.

lt is also an object to provide an improved guiding means for the platenof the press which is better able to withstand detlecting loads on thepress platen and which is easy to construct and install in the press.

These and other objects and advantages will become more apparent uponreference to the following description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a press constructed according tomy invention;

Figure 2 is a plan section through the press platen and frame and isindicated by line 2 2 on Figure 1;

Figure 3 is still another plan section through the press at the level ofthe blankholder platen and is indicated byline 3--3on Figure l.

Figure 4 is an enlarged view taken through one corner of the pressplaten and the adjacent corner of the press frame showing the gibguiding arrangement for the platen according to this invention; and

Figure S'is a view similar to Figure 4 but showing the guidingarrangement for the blankholder platen.

Referring to the drawings somewhat more in detail, a press constructedin accordance with this invention comprises a bed 10 and a head 12spaced apart by the uprights 14. Extending through uprights 14 arestrain rods connected to the ends of which are nuts by means of whichthe head, bed and uprights are clamped together.

Reciprocably mounted in cylinder of the press which is in the head 12 isa press ram 40 that extends out through the bottom of the cylinderthrough suitable packing for connection with the press platen 44, as bya split ring, or other conventional fastening means.

The construction of the press platen will best be seen in Figure 2. Theplaten comprises a cast member having ledges 72 formed in its front andback faces and also having the notches 74 formed in its corners. Thenotches 74 are for the purpose of adjustably receiving the gib members76. These members 76 are L-shaped with the ends of the legs at the sidesof the platen bevelled off, as at 78 to bear against the press guides80.

Gib members 76 are clamped tightly against a machined surface on theside of the platen by screws 82 which extend through clearance holes inthe corners of the platen. The gib members 76 are adjustable toward andaway from the guides by means of the set screws 84 extending through thegib members from the front and bearing against one face of the notches74, and the screws 86 extending through the gib members and into thesaid platen.

It will be apparent that the combination of the screws 82, the abutmentscrews 84, and the clamp screws 86 provides a ready means for positivelydetermining the location of the gib members 76 on the platen. It willalso be noted that there are substantially no twisting forces exerted onany of the said locating means for the gib members or on the gib membersthemselves, but that any thrusts that are imposed on the said gibmembers due to impending deflections of the platen are carried by thegib members or the fastening means therefor purely in tension orcompression.

It may be pointed out at this time that the guides 80 are mounted on theuprights of the press by means of the tongue and groove arrangementwhich will be best seen at 88 in Figure 4. The groove in the upright canreadily be formed by simple machining processes, and the tongue on theguide can also be formed thereon in a very simple manner.

The guides are preferably of hardened steel, surface ground, and mayeither be manufactured or purchased commercially at a reasonable cost.The grooves run the full length of the upright, but the guides are cutotf, as indicated at 87 in Figure l, the correct length to give anyrequired daylight and stroke combination. Thus, there is no patternchange or redesigning of the press necessary in changing thestroke-daylight' relationship. Screws 90 may be distributed along theguides for clamping them tightly in position against their associateduprights.

It will be noted in Figure 2 that the platen 44 has extensions 92thereon extending into the space between the guides 80. These extensionsare utilized for providing a positive stop for the platen by locatingstop blocks on the bed in the space between the guides. The platen isdesigned to sustain the full tonnage of the press,

and the stop blocks and projections 94 on the platen thus represent aninexpensive and effective arrangement for providing a positive stop forthe platen and ram.

ln many instances it is necessary to supply a press of the typeillustrated with a blankholder arrangement for holding a blank during adrawing operation. The blankholder arrangement comprises a blankholderplaten 150 positioned beneath the main platen 44 and suspended therefromby the pick-up rods 152 which pass loosely through bored holes in theledges at the front and back faces of the main platen. Platen 150 has acentral opening 151 to admit a punch or the like to be carried by themain platen for action on the center part of a blank, the periphery ofwhich is to be engaged by the blankholder platen. A

The blankholder platen is generally stationary while it is working and,therefore, does not require the heavy gib arrangement already describedin connection with the main platen. Rather, the blankholder platen is soshaped as to extend along the diagonal faces of the guides 8O andengagement of the blankholder platen with the said guides isaccomplished by means of the relatively thin wear plates 154 bolted onthe diagonal faces of the blankholder guide surfaces so as to beardirectly on the diagonal faces of the guides 80.

According to a phase of my invention, which is disclosed more fully inthe above-identified co-pending application, the usual arrangement foractuating the blankholder platen from above is completely eliminated,and instead there are provided cylinders and pistons detachably mountedin the press bed and having upwardly extending rods connected with theblankholder platen so as to pull it downwardly with the proper amount offorce.

The blankholder actuating arrangement is fully disclosed in myco-pending applications referred to above and includes the verticallyextending pull down rods 168 which pass through suitable bores in thepress bed into engagement with the blankholder platen 150 to pull theblankholder platen downwardly when the press is operated.

It will be understood that this invention is susceptible to modificationin order to adapt itto different usages and conditions, and,accordingly, it is desired to comprehcnd such modifications within thisinvention as may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Iclaim:

l. In an upright press having a head, a bed and a pair of spaceduprights extending between said head and bed, said uprights having innersides confronting and vertically extending portions of said confrontingsides being fiat and parallel to each other, said parallel portionshaving grooves parallel to cach other and running vertically the fulllength of said uprights, a platen reciprocable between said uprightstoward and away from said bed, there being wear plates on the edges ofsaid platen adjacent said uprights, each of said wear plates beingmounted on said platen with a face thereof being inclined and directedinwardly of said press, guide rails having tongues fitted into saidupright grooves and mounted on said uprights, each of said guide railshaving a surface inclined with respect to the parallel portion of itsrespective upright and facing outwardly of said press, said inclinedguide rail surfaces slidably engaging the corresponding inclined wearplates on said platen, and means adjacent said inclined surface of eachguide rail and passing through the guide rail and the tongue thereon andreceived in respective upn'ghts to detachably secure said guide rails tosaid uprights.

2. In an upright press as claimed in claim 1 with the length of saidguide rails being less than the length of said grooves whereby theposition of said guide rail with respect to said bed and head may bevaried.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,834,386 Derby Dec. 1, 1931 1,966,925 Criley July 17, 1934 2,111,096Fritzsch Mar. l5, 1938 2,491,384 MacMillin et al. Dec. 13, 19492,582,889 Sedgwick Ian. 15, 1952

